Civil Rights: America Is Going Backward

Over the past few months, as racist incidents have increased in the U.S., laws that have played a key role in the promotion of racial equality are at risk of being repealed. The Supreme Court may decide to invalidate a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the landmark civil rights decision that requires nearly all of the southern states, in addition to certain areas like the Bronx in New York, to obtain the approval of the federal government before making any changes to election rules.

The goal of the Act was to end the discrimination that prevented black residents in these states from fully exercising their right to vote. Congress must periodically renew this measure — it was last extended in 2006 — after determining criteria for identifying discrimination. But Shelby County in Alabama, which is 90 percent white, recently challenged the Voting Rights Act in a case that went to the Supreme Court. After the election of a black president, even an inkling of electoral racism would seem unacceptable … but between 1982 and 2006, the Voting Rights Act prevented 1,000 proposals for discriminatory laws from being adopted!

Quotas

The Supreme Court could also dismantle yet another crucial protection: ethnic quotas used by American universities. It began with an appeal brought by Abigail Fisher, a young white woman rejected by the University of Texas presumably in the name of affirmative action, despite her excellent academic record. According to experts, the Court could decide that ethnic origin, among other factors such as social status, should no longer be used as a criterion for admission. The Supreme Court’s decisions are expected in June.

But there is something even more disturbing happening: an increase in racist incidents. Last month, the (white) president of prestigious Emory University in Georgia publicly praised the compromise adopted in 1787 to assess the “weight” of the southern states in Congress. This contract established the value of a slave at three-fifths that of a free man. What an outcry! More recently, in Ohio, the walls of otherwise progressive Oberlin University were covered with swastikas and racist slogans, and an individual dressed in the robe and white mask of the Ku Klux Klan was seen near the dormitories … Finally, one year after the assassination of Trayvon Martin, a young black man in Florida who was attacked by a well-meaning vigilante (whose trial begins on June 10), another black teen, Kimani Gray, was fatally shot by police in Brooklyn. On March 13, the black community’s anger turned into a riot. In New York, distrust is at its peak between the police and young blacks and Latinos. In the name of the so-called “stop and frisk” policy, the constitutionality of which is currently being examined by a federal judge, these individuals are becoming victims of systemic racism.

As a small consolation, Barack Obama recently unveiled a life-size statue of Rosa Parks on Capitol Hill. By refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white person, this woman contributed to the launch of the civil rights movement. In his speech honoring her, the president stated, “… With the simplest of gestures, she helped change America.” America has certainly changed … but to what extent?